A successful point of sale marketing strategy involves paying attention to a wide range of factors, including design, display placement, budgeting and more. The starting point of your strategy should always be what you intend to get out of it, namely selling more products. Every factor of your strategy should be focused towards this point.

Obvious as this sounds, many point-of-sale marketing strategies for flat because they fail to appreciate the competitiveness of the POS retail environment, or the mind set of retail customers and how it affects purchase decisions. While point-of-sale techniques work well within a larger marketing strategy, the approach to customer engagement and branding is often quite different to other branches of marketing.

Here are three considerations we always recommend companies start with when looking at the design for a new point of sale marketing campaign.

1) Demand Attention

Consumers have 1,001 things on their mind during a typical retail experience. They are not necessarily receptive to spending time looking at adverts, instead thinking about their Christmas shopping, picking up the kids and whether or not they switched off the bathroom light before leaving home.

You have to be bold in order to get their attention. Your point of sale displays should reflect your brand identity and the benefits of your product in a unique and creative way, expressing key concepts connected with your brand – e.g. fun, fitness, well-being etc. Be adventurous with your design. Experiment with new colour combinations, bespoke shapes, and eye-catching fonts.

However, remember that boldness does not equate to being garish, and it is essential that your display fully resonates with your established brand identity. ‘Out there’ POS displays could deter customers and cause difficulties for your retail partners.
When carrying out a point of sale marketing strategy it is a good idea to conduct A/B testing with small volumes before full rollout, in order to find the best approach for your product.

2) Engage Your Customers

Give your target customers an incentive to approach your POS display. Part of customer engagement is optimal display placement. Determine where your display is going to be placed in the retail environment in order to get the most attention. This will be different from product to product. For instance, many confectionery manufacturers like to display their goods directly before the tills, to encourage impulse buys. On the other hand, a POS display for books will be better placed next to the appropriate bookshelf in the store.

Placement is not enough, however. To maximise engagement, try combining your POS strategy with special offers. Buy one get one free (BOGOF) promotions work well for a wide range of products, as do meal deals for some food items. You could also try tear off coupons, prize draw competitions (great for harvesting contact details and building a marketing database), or QR codes linked to landing pages and other online content. The more the consumer feels actively involved in the process, the more likely it is they’ll make a purchase.

3) Use Convincing Copy

Point of sale displays do not solely depend on imagery, important as this is. You also need to use persuasive written copy to convey the brand identity and benefits of the product. Don’t attempt to be text heavy on point of sale displays, but you should use the space you have to ‘speak’ to your customer on a personal and emotionally engaging level.

If you are supporting your point of sale marketing strategy with online content, these messages can be developed on your landing pages. Remember, what you don’t say about the product is often as important as what you do, so choose your words carefully and be upfront and honest with your consumers. Crucially, make sure any copy you use includes a strong call to action. Simplicity works. Experiment with primal CTAs, such as ‘Buy Now’, ‘Offer Ends Today’ or ‘Save 50%!’

Find Out More

We have recently published a new, free e-book: The Point Of Sale Marketing Guide, which can be downloaded by clicking here. The e-book covers all the services we offer here at Print & Display, with practical advice on POS display design, branding, positioning and much more. For all other questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our customer service team by calling 0115 9275141.